Your Bladder Control Problem May Be Overactive Bladder Symptoms
Overactive bladder symptoms are often described as a “bladder control” problem when patients decide to discuss it with their physician. Often, many patients suffer with their “bladder control” silently for long periods because they are embarrassed or think it is just part of getting older. Some are surprised to learn that losing bladder control is not a part of the aging process.
Overactive bladder symptoms occur when the bladder suffers an involuntary muscle contraction that causes a sudden uncontrollable urge to urinate. Overactive bladder (OAB) is also referred to as urge incontinence due to the unintentional urination that can happen if the person is not able to make it to the bathroom.
Key Symptoms of Overactive Bladder
Overactive bladder symptoms generally consist of frequent urination, urgency to urinate, and incontinence. The incontinence occurs when the urge to urinate occurs, but does not allow the person to get to a toilet to void. This should not be confused with stress incontinence that occurs when a person laughs, coughs, sneezes or strains and urine leaks out of the bladder. Stress incontinence is indicative of a different bladder control issue, but can happen in conjunction with OAB.
The often overlooked overactive bladder symptoms are not so easy for a patient to recognize and include social and psychological ones from a person trying to restructure their activities and environment to avoid incontinence. Overactive bladder can impact all aspects of a person’s life including their job and personal relationships as they try to accommodate the constant need to be close to a bathroom should the urge to urinate occur.
Taking Back Your Life with OAB Treatment
Bladder control of the muscles within the bladder is the primary focus of treatment for overactive bladder symptoms. These treatments may include one or more of the following:
• Rehabilitation of the pelvic muscles to improve the muscle tone and control urine leakage from OAB are achieved by.
• Kegel exercises are recommended 30-80 times daily to exercise the pelvic muscles and improve the ability to hold urine in when contractions occur. Kegel exercises are achieved by pulling the muscles in the vagina upward as if stopping a urine stream and hold for 3 seconds. This should be repeated at intervals throughout the day.
• Biofeedback exercises are utilized with kegel exercises to assist those who have trouble locating and controlling their pelvic muscles to perform the exercises.
• Vaginal weight training is used for those who have more severe cases and kegel exercises are not enough to gain bladder control. Weights are placed in the vagina and held in place for fifteen minutes, twice daily.
• Pelvic floor stimulation via electrical stimulation to encourage the muscles to contract and tone themselves.
Medications such as Detrol and Ditropan are prescribed to help control overactive bladder symptoms until rehabilitation can be achieved or (in some cases) is used indefinitely for bladder control.
Overactive bladder symptoms plague approximately ten percent of mature adults. OAB should not be considered a bladder control problem you have to put up with. Consult your doctor for help managing your overactive bladder symptoms.
